1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a root mobile router in a dynamically composed moving network, and more particularly, to a root mobile router and the operating method thereof in a dynamically composed moving network, capable of forming a self-configuring ad-hoc network between wireless personal area networks of each user in a moving network and supporting a stable connection between the network and the Internet.
2. Discussion of Related Art
A moving network refers to a type of network which can move itself. For example, a network configured in a moving body such as vehicle, ship or aircraft is referred to as a moving network. Such a moving network can be configured in a moving body in a wired or wireless manner. At this time, wireless personal area networks (WPANs) are gathered to configure a large type of moving network so they move all together, and hereinafter, such a moving network is referred to as a dynamically composed moving network.
Meanwhile, the mobile router refers to a router located at a border to connect an internal network and the Internet to each other in the moving network, which may include multiple network interfaces.
Recently, with the development of various access network technologies including an infrastructure mode and an ad-hoc mode, the evolution of mobile communication networks is being accelerated to Beyond 3rd Generation (B3G). In particular, the trend is toward seamless Internet connectivity that is increasingly needed by mobile users who wish to enjoy ubiquitous computing and communication, and the most important issue is to provide a delicate communication service for seamless mobility support in order to support ubiquitous computing/communication, that is, a condition in which free computing and communication are available regardless of time, position and device constraints.
A mobile IP (hereinafter, referred to as an MIP) of Internet engineering task force (IETF) may be the most appropriate presently existing communication technology which can support wide area mobility for a number of devices around us. This will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 illustrates the configuration of a conventional moving network system.
Referring to FIG. 1, the moving network system includes a moving body 100, a mobile node 120 and a mobile router 110 in the moving body, and a mobile access network accessing the Internet.
The moving body 100 can take a variety of forms, including an automobile, a bus, a train and a ship, for example. The moving body 100 has a fixed type of mobile router 110 which can provide the moving body 100 with Internet access.
The mobile router 110 employs all functions of a general router, and mobile nodes 120 of the moving body 100 keep connectivity to the mobile router 110 through a wireless network 130 or a wired network 140, so they are connected to the Internet. At this time, in order to provide a global mobility, the mobile router 110 can have a handover protocol such as a mobile IP.
FIG. 2 illustrates the configuration of a general mobile router.
Referring to FIG. 2, the general mobile router 110 basically includes a routing protocol module 111 and a handover protocol module 113 to provide a global mobility. It includes an Ethernet 115 as an internal network interface to provide wired networking, and a wireless LAN 117 for wireless networking. It also includes an interface such as a CDMA network interface 119 for an external network interface, thus providing wide area mobility.
However, since the mobile IP described above is designed to support a single terminal mobility only, it cannot sufficiently support a moving network of the moving body 100 shown in FIG. 1 or network mobility technically.
Further, while the mobile router 110 of the moving network shown in FIG. 1 is fixed to the moving body 100 in order to supply power thereto, the moving body 100 does not provide the mobile router 110 in itself in many cases. Accordingly, a study is under way to utilize a wireless personal mobile terminal as a mobile router.